Vassula Rydén nee Vassiliki Claudia Pendakis was born on January 18, 1942 into a Greek family in Heliopolis, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. She emigrated to Europe with her family at the age of 15. Vassula is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.

In November 1966, Vassula married a Lutheran man in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, at a Greek Orthodox Church. In November 1980, she was divorced in Sweden. In June 1981, she married her current husband, Per Rydén, a Swedish Lutheran, at the registry office. On October 31, 1990, she regularized her union in the Greek Orthodox Church in Lausanne.

Vassula could never have imagined that God would unexpectedly reveal Himself to her in 1985, while she was living with her family in the capital city of Dhaka in Bangladesh. God called her and charged her with the mission of delivering His Message, which He named True Life in God (TLIG).

When Vassula’s experience of this revelation began she was totally preoccupied with worldly things and led a rather privileged life. Her husband’s work as an international development expert meant that she had to live most of her life in Third World countries. The mother of two sons was an accomplished woman in the highest spheres of society—an inspired painter, tennis champion and hobby fashion model. Religion was not a part of Vassula’s life. She had never received any catechetical instruction or theological formation. She did not own a Bible. She had nothing against God, she just never thought of Him.

Since 1988, Vassula has given over 1,000 presentations on the True Life in God messages in more than 76 countries. In all of this work, Vassula receives no personal royalties, fees or benefit for her efforts.

“I heard a Voice within me saying with tenderness, ‘I am your Father and you
descend from Me…you come from Me…you belong to Me…you are Mine…’ Hearing these
words, I was blown away. God’s luminous Presence filled me, exploding through my
entire being and uplifting my soul.”